Democracy denied: FAN takes fight for free and fair elections for all to High Court
Freedom Advocacy Network
Media Statement
2 March 2022
Democracy denied: FAN takes fight for free and fair elections for all to High Court
The Freedom Advocacy Network (FAN), acting on behalf of the Forum for Democrats (FFD), has today issued a court application in the North West High Court, Mahikeng to correct the allocation of seats for the 2021 local government elections in the Ramotshere Moiloa Local Municipal Council.
In December 2021 the IEC found that due to the incorrect allocation of total Ward and PR votes (9 206) cast during the 2021 municipal elections, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) were incorrectly allocated 6 seats. Based on the correct total of Ward and PR votes cast in favour of the EFF (9 034), the EFF should have been allocated only 5 seats, with the remaining seat being allocated to the FFD, a local party seeking to give voice to the concerns of the community.
Despite the IEC correcting the election results under pressure from FAN, the Council has taken no steps to rectify the situation in the actual allocation of seats. The Council is required to ensure that its seats are held by members according to the principle of proportional representation and according to the results determined by the IEC. Anything other than this cannot but be considered a violation of the standard of elections being free and fair.
Says Hermann Pretorius, managing director of FAN: “It’s a constitutional right and a core ingredient of freedom that election results duly reflect the will of the voters. Too often, the little guy, the ordinary South African willing to stand up and do for their community what the political establishment has failed to do, is mistreated, dismissed, and left voiceless. This is not how our constitutional democracy is supposed to work and FAN won’t give up this fight until all elections in our country are free and fair.”.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Hermann Pretorius
Managing Director, Freedom Advocacy Network
Cell: +27 79 875 4290
www.f-an.net